Sharon Van Sluijs

The American Public Works Association will host a webinar on reducing equipment maintenance costs and downtime on Thursday, July 25, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern Time. From field workers to supervisors, each employee plays an integral and complex role in maintaining equipment. This course will give drivers, operators, and supervisors the tools and the know-how to set up guidelines and procedures for daily, weekly, and yearly maintenance programs for vehicles and equipment. These guidelines will ultimately reduce costs and downtime.

Read the announcement:
APWA Webinar: Maintain Shared Assets: Reduce Costs & Downtime with Teamwork

Researchers for the Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET) have developed a self-powered structural health monitoring system for pavements and bridges. Powered by a thermal energy harvester that translates temperature differences between pavement layers into electrical energy, the prototype system can store and transmit data without a battery.

Read the research report: Development of a Self-Powered Structural Health Monitoring System for Transportation Infrastructure, December 2018. (Image courtesy of Minnesota DOT.)

Ohio DOT’s maintenance work includes inspection and cleaning of the storm sewer infrastructure along roadways. A recent ODOT study reviewed the effectiveness of the Recycler, a sewer cleaning unit that uses a recycling system to filter the removed wastewater and reuse it for jet cleaning, saving both time and water. Over a summer maintenance season, researchers found that the Recycler was 52% more productive than the traditional Vacuum Jet Truck system.

Read the research report: Evaluation of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Current Storm Sewer Cleaning Operations—Phase II, January 2019.

A recent Federal Highway Administration report on concrete pavement preservation examines the primary factors that affect concrete pavement performance and reviews preservation strategies. The report includes a state-of-the practice review of approaches for evaluating concrete pavement condition and economic analysis techniques for assessing the cost-effectiveness of preservation strategies.

Read the report: Strategies for Concrete Pavement Preservation, February 2019.

Iowa State University researchers have developed a risk-based life-cycle cost analysis framework to enhance bridge management systems. Current systems are unable to account for sudden extreme events or the consequences of long-term extreme environmental exposure in a systematic way. This analysis framework combines site-specific aging and extreme events and can be incorporated into transportation agencies’ current bridge management systems.

Read the research report: Management of Bridges Considering Aging Mechanisms and Extreme Events, February 2019. (Image courtesy of Ohio DOT.)

The American Public Works Association will host a webinar on the future of asset management on Thursday, June 27, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern Time. The presentation will discuss the new and interesting ways that organizations are using technology to solve problems, become more efficient, and save money. In addition, presenters will forecast what technology can be integrated into current systems and envision what new technology is necessary to fully automate processes.

Read the announcement: APWA Webinar: Asset Management Past, Present, and Future: What’s Next? (Image courtesy of Massachusetts DOT.)